Short crime fiction goes to magazines unsolicited: you match the story to a publication’s stated word limit, format the file the way that editor asks, attach a three-to-five line query letter, and send it to three to five markets at once. Nobody reads the story carefully unless it clears the guidelines first. Getting those guidelines right is the whole job, and the work is doable in an evening per market once you have a system.
Most crime and mystery magazines publish unsolicited submissions all year, with no window to plan around. The two numbers that shape your strategy are acceptance rate and response time, because both tell you how many markets you need and how long you wait. Do the research in this guide and you will send fewer, better-targeted pieces.
Table of Contents
- What You Need
- Step-by-Step: How to Submit Short Crime Fiction to Magazines
- 1. Define the story’s genre, length, and readership
- 2. Build a list of magazines that accept the right kind of story
- 3. Read the guidelines carefully and check fit
- 4. Prepare and polish the manuscript
- 5. Write a specific query letter and submission package
- 6. Submit, record the details, and follow up
- Common Mistakes
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Which crime fiction magazines accept short story submissions?
- How many magazines should I submit the same story to at once?
- What does a cover letter for a short story look like?
- How long do crime magazines take to respond?
- Do crime fiction magazines charge submission fees?
- How do I respond to a rejection from a magazine?
- Conclusion: Start With One Well-Fit Submission
What You Need
Four things, and you can assemble them in a single afternoon.
- A finished, formatted manuscript. Not a rough draft. Send the piece you would be happy to see in print, because many editors will not ask for a second look at the same story.
- A short biography. Two or three lines at most, plus a publication list if you have one. For crime writers, that list often includes crime press reviews, festival placings, or prior appearances in genre anthologies.
- A real contact address. A working email inbox and a postal address if the magazine asks for one. A lot of writers lose a response to a full mailbox they never check.
- A submission tracker. A spreadsheet is enough. Columns for magazine, date sent, submission method, stated response time, the date you would expect a reply, the result, and notes.
- A trustworthy place to read current guidelines. The publication’s own submissions page is the only source that counts. Directory listings go stale within months, which is why the market guides floating around the internet are often years out of date.
Step-by-Step: How to Submit Short Crime Fiction to Magazines
1. Define the story’s genre, length, and readership
Before you look at any magazine, write down three facts about the piece: its actual word count, its lane, and who reads it. Those three lines drive everything else, because every market filters on length first and tone second.
The lanes you will be choosing between are fairly distinct. Noir and hardboiled lean on voice, weather and moral fog. Cozy mystery promises an amateur or small-town investigator and a puzzle that resolves. Police procedural runs on procedure, paperwork and casework. Private eye and amateur sleuth keep the detective outside official channels. Suspense fiction stretches to cover thrillers and near-misses, and literary crime fiction takes the same materials and treats character first.
Also decide where the story sits on the length scale. Flash crime fiction runs under 1,000 words and has its own dedicated markets, such as Flash Bang Mysteries. Full short stories usually land between 3,000 and 5,000 words. Longer crime shorts and novella-length pieces need a different list entirely, and a 2,000-word story sent to a magazine wanting 5,000 to 7,000 words will be declined on length alone.
2. Build a list of magazines that accept the right kind of story
Build from the lane, then check the mechanics. Longstanding crime and mystery titles to investigate include Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine and Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine for classic mystery and suspense, Noir Nation and The Dark City for noir and hardboiled, Over My Dead Body! for darker crime work, and Switchblade for women-in-crime stories. Necessary Fiction and Tough Crime sit in the same general territory with their own guidance pages. Always confirm current terms on the magazine’s own site before you write to them.
For each candidate, record six things. The subgenre lane it says it publishes, the word limit it states, whether it pays and how it pays, the response time it promises, whether it charges a submission fee, and the method it accepts work through.
Markets that appeared in crime roundups published years ago still make good starting points, but treat every figure you find in an old list as unverified. Verify the word limit, the pay policy, the fee policy and the response window on the current submissions page, and check whether they use a portal such as Submittable or a submission service before you send anything.
| Magazine | Lane to check | Length to confirm | Pay | Response time | Submission method |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thriller Magazine | Crime, thriller, noir, flash, psychological | Stated range of 1,000 to 7,000 words | Flat fee, stated on the submissions page | Stated at 4 to 5 weeks | Portal, with editorial feedback promised on every submission |
| Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine | Classic mystery, suspense, crime | Confirm current limit | Confirm current policy | Confirm current window | Check the submissions page for the current portal |
| Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine | Mystery, suspense, noir-leaning | Confirm current limit | Confirm current policy | Confirm current window | Check the submissions page for the current portal |
| Tough Crime | Hard crime, noir | Confirm current limit | Confirm current policy | Confirm current window | RTF submissions; fiction does not need a query letter |
| Necessary Fiction | Literary crime, suspense | Confirm current limit | Confirm current policy | Confirm current window | Submittable-based |
| Switchblade | Women in crime, noir, suspense | Confirm current limit | Confirm current policy | Confirm current window | Check the submissions page for the current portal |
| Noir Nation | Noir, hardboiled | Confirm current limit | Confirm current policy | Confirm current window | Check the submissions page for the current portal |
| Over My Dead Body! | Darker crime, psychological suspense | Confirm current limit | Confirm current policy | Confirm current window | Check the submissions page for the current portal |
| Flash Bang Mysteries | Flash crime and mystery | Under 1,000 words | Confirm current policy | Confirm current window | Check the submissions page for the current portal |
| The Australian Journal of Crime Fiction | Australian crime and mystery | Confirm current limit | Confirm current policy | Confirm current window | RTF or DOCX by email |
Table rows reflect what was open when this guide was checked in 2026. Re-read each submissions page the week you send.
Tier the list before you start. Tier one is the three or four magazines you would be genuinely proud to appear in. Tier two is the realistic middle. Tier three is the long tail you send to when the top of the list goes quiet. A tiered list of roughly five live targets beats firing the same story at thirty titles, because a narrow list keeps your response times short and your notes useful.
Keep a shortlist of writers whose crime fiction you have seen in these venues. KBoards threads repeatedly name Shotgun Honey as a strong home for short crime pieces, and reading a magazine you hope to publish in tells you more about its voice than any description of its guidelines will.
3. Read the guidelines carefully and check fit
Open the guidelines and extract nine items before you format anything: accepted file type, word limit, whether simultaneous submissions are allowed, what the magazine will not publish, whether a query letter is required, the submission method, the response time, the pay arrangement, and the rights the magazine wants.
Fit is where stories quietly die. Some crime titles state that they want a story with a crime at its centre rather than one where crime is background atmosphere, or that they do not want stories in which the detective solves everything. Others specify that fiction should not be queried, which means a query letter is not merely unnecessary but unwanted.
Check the rights language carefully too. Some magazines ask for non-exclusive rights, meaning you may send the story elsewhere while their offer is open. Others buy first North American serial rights, which changes what you are allowed to do with that story next month. Know which one before you accept, and keep a copy of what you agreed to.
4. Prepare and polish the manuscript
Send the file the guidelines ask for, in the format they name, and nothing cleverer. Plain text, RTF, DOCX or a paste into a portal field are all normal. A PDF sent to an editor who asked for a DOCX is a formatting violation, and formatting violations are one of the fastest reasons a piece gets dumped.
The standard crime and literary short-story format is familiar: your name and contact details plus the title at the top of page one, the story below it, double-spaced, in a readable serif face at about 12 point, with wide margins and paragraph breaks rather than indents. Anonymise the manuscript if the magazine asks for it, which means a byline that says the story’s title only.
Then do three passes. A story-level revision, which is structural: does the ending earn what came before, and does the first page make a promise the story keeps. A sentence-level pass for rhythm and cliches. A proofreading pass for typos, missing quotes and stray spaces. Count the words again afterwards, because the count you send in the query letter has to be the count in the file.
Name the story with its full title and word count in the file header, since some magazines route on that. If the guidelines ask for a synopsis or an author note, write those separately and keep them short.
5. Write a specific query letter and submission package
A query letter is not a sales pitch. It is a filing note that tells the reader which magazine, which story, which length, and why this one. Forum threads on r/writing and r/writers keep reducing it to a short formula, and the formula works because it is short.
Write four sentences: name the magazine, thank them for reading unsolicited work, identify the story with its title, lane and exact word count, then give one line on why it fits that magazine specifically. Add your biography and publication list underneath. That is the whole letter.
The one piece of personalisation that earns its keep is the fit sentence. Naming the story you read in their back pages, and what you liked about it, shows you actually read the magazine. Everything else in the package is administrative: manuscript file, optional synopsis, bio, and the fee if that market charges one.
Attach files as the guidelines require, paste the story into the body of the email only when they say to, and remove your draft history and comments before attaching anything. Track your own version numbers so you know which revision went where.
6. Submit, record the details, and follow up
Send it. Then write the row in your tracker the same day: magazine, contact address, date sent, method, the response window they quoted, and the date that window ends. That last column is the one that saves you from the anxious waiting most writers complain about.
Simultaneous submission is normal and nearly always permitted, because no magazine reading slush can honestly promise to read your story on the day it arrives. Writers on KBoards and r/writers treat sending the same story to about five markets at once as the community norm rather than carpet-bombing. The limit that matters is the one the magazine states, so follow it when they state one.
Send the next story once your live list drops to three or four. Some writers track seasonal windows, since themed calls and anthologies open and close on fixed dates, and crime magazines that run special issues often post their calls months ahead.
Follow up only when the guidelines allow it. If they quote a response window and it passes with nothing, a single polite email asking whether the submission is still under consideration is acceptable. If they say no follow-ups, do not send one. Never send a second chase.
When a rejection arrives, read the category, not the mood. A form rejection is a decision based on fit at that moment and tells you little. A positive form rejection names a specific weakness and points your next revision. A personal rejection means an editor read the story closely enough to write to you, which is why writers treat those letters as a badge of credibility rather than a failure.
Never resubmit the same story to a magazine that has already rejected it unless the letter explicitly invites a rewrite. Do send the revised story to new markets, and keep building the next piece while the current list works through.
Common Mistakes
- Sending to venues that never read unsolicited work. Check whether the magazine publishes submissions at all, and whether the last two or three issues contain stories by writers outside its known circle.
- Skipping the guidelines and trusting a directory listing. Old crime-magazine lists circulate for years with dead submission addresses. Read the current page on the day you send.
- Ignoring the word limit. A piece over the ceiling is declined before anyone reads it, however good it is.
- Submitting the wrong file format, or an unanonymised draft where anonymity is required. Follow the file-type line to the letter.
- Writing a long, arguing query letter. Editors sort a hundred of these a week. Three to five factual lines is the target.
- Breaking a stated simultaneous submission rule. Some markets require exclusivity for a defined period. Read that line as binding.
- Paying a submission fee to a market that promises editorial feedback and gives none. Writers on forums describe this as the most common way they feel burned. Verify the feedback policy before you pay, and treat a fee with no feedback and no response window as a bad signal.
- Sending to the wrong lane. A cozy mystery with no puzzle submitted to a noir magazine is a fit problem, not a quality problem.
- Following up aggressively. One polite check after the stated window is fine. Repeated chases end the relationship permanently.
- Keeping no tracker. Without a log you will double-submit to a market that has your story in its slush pile.
Two habits fix most of the above at once. Read at least two issues of a magazine before you write to it, and treat its guidelines as a checklist you can tick rather than background reading.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which crime fiction magazines accept short story submissions?
Most professional crime and mystery magazines read unsolicited fiction all year, including Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, Noir Nation, The Dark City, Over My Dead Body!, Switchblade, Tough Crime, Necessary Fiction and The Australian Journal of Crime Fiction. Flash crime under 1,000 words has its own dedicated venues such as Flash Bang Mysteries. Check each magazine’s own submissions page before you write, since terms, portals and word limits change.
How many magazines should I submit the same story to at once?
Roughly five live targets at a time is the norm writers describe on writing forums, tiered so you always have several in play. The binding rule is whatever each magazine states: some require exclusive consideration for a defined period, and sending the same story to those and elsewhere would breach their terms. Send to the next market once your live list drops to three or four, and log every send.
What does a cover letter for a short story look like?
Three to five factual lines: name the magazine, thank them for reading unsolicited work, identify the story by title, lane and exact word count, then give one specific sentence on why it fits their published work. Add a two or three line biography and any prior publications. Skip plot summary, sales language and anything arguing for the story’s importance.
How long do crime magazines take to respond?
It varies widely, from a stated four to five weeks at some titles to several months at others, and some give no window at all. Quote ranges commonly cited for crime magazines run from a few weeks to about three months for a first response. Mark the expected date in your tracker when you send so the waiting has an end. One polite check after the stated window passes is acceptable if the magazine permits follow-ups.
Do crime fiction magazines charge submission fees?
Most crime and mystery titles do not charge anything, and the market roundups that list paying venues generally note that none of them take fees. Some general-interest publications do, including one crime and thriller title whose submissions page states a small non-refundable fee along with a flat payment and a four to five week response window. Judge any fee by whether editorial feedback is guaranteed and a response time is published.
How do I respond to a rejection from a magazine?
Sort it first. A form rejection means fit, not quality, so move on. A positive form rejection names a real weakness you can revise and resubmit to new markets. A personal rejection means an editor read closely enough to write to you, and writers treat those letters as credentials. Do not resubmit the same story to the magazine that rejected it unless the letter invites a rewrite.
Conclusion: Start With One Well-Fit Submission
Pick one magazine from your tier-one list tonight and read its guidelines end to end, then send that single well-targeted submission with a short factual query letter. Do that once, properly, before you build a list of five. Knowing how to submit short crime fiction to magazines is not a research problem you solve once for the whole year; it is a habit you repeat, one well-matched story at a time.
